Olivia Hussey, apparently a shy girl on set, almost accidentally cut off Roger Ward's hands in one scene. When the director yelled cut, she took the order the wrong way during the scene and Ward just pulled his hands out of the way in the nick of time.
The nude extras in the group shower scene were from a local hippie commune.
Olivia Hussey was miserable, upset and stressed throughout filming, believing Australia's dangerous wildlife would be everywhere and hurt her, making it difficult to film her on location.
Despite flopping critically and financially in the US and Australia, when it was finally released in the UK (amidst a major blizzard) the film broke box office records, recovering much of any losses made.
Actor Michael Craig's head-of-prison-camp character Charles Thatcher was named after British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who was in office at the time the film was made and released. The UK video release retitled the film 'Blood Camp Thatcher'.